Air suspension assemblies are known in the art for use on automotive vehicles. Such air suspension assemblies typically include a plurality of air springs, each for interconnecting the body and one of the wheels of the automotive vehicle for damping relative forces between the body and the wheels, and for adjusting the height of the automotive vehicle.
In order to control such air suspension assemblies, air management systems are commonly utilized. The air springs are commonly connected via one or more air lines to a manifold block of the air management system. The air management system may also include a compressor or pump including a motor that may be coupled to the manifold block to provide air to fill the air springs. When exhausting air from the air springs after they have been inflated, it is desirable to provide for a high flow rate.
Consequently, it is common to utilize additional valves connected in parallel, for example, with the valves coupled to the air springs to provide for additional air flow when exhausting the system. However, such additional valves increase the cost, weight, and complexity of the air management system. Additionally, valves designed to operate under high pressure typically have an increased cost, size, and mass due to large coils that are needed to provide a magnetic force to open and close the valve under pressure (e.g., when the air springs are pressurized). Thus, there remains a need for improvements to such air management systems and methods of operating the air management system to provide for desired exhaust flow rates while remaining compact and low cost.